Wednesday 19 September 2012

Life at Bourdeaux

I believe I could just about live at the campsite at Bourdeaux.  Being near the mountains, it was cool at night even though warm during the day.  I 'let' Bill do all the running and cycling he wished.  Every direction was either straight up or down...



I sat and sewed patchwork pieces and read books.  We ate dinner in the tent, closed off for privacy, but with windows for the breeze.  The food at the campsite shop was shockingly good quality and reasonable price.  Not that we needed much.  I must have been in siege mode when I packed food. 

 

My view while sewing - we were at the bottom corner of the site.

There were loads of organised activities up at the centre, like zumba classes or quizzes and once there was an all-night camping trip for the kids (which made it very quiet the next day).  I didn't care for any of them, but it was nice that others could enjoy the fun.  I was loving my sewing and reading.

The Belgians' mansion


For the most part our neighbours were French, Belgian and German.  We were amused by the folks across from us, who had at least three chambers for their living quarters and a fridge with its own umbrella.  They later added a hammock for the teenaged boy.  When they packed and left, we discovered that the fridge was rented from the centre.  Who knew?



Did I mention there was a pool - actually several, with a million loungers.  For all that European women are supposed to all be so slim and chic, the ones at the pool - in my age bracket anyhow - looked fairly ordinary to me.  True, I had a week of holding in my stomach; but otherwise I was reasonably comfortable wearing my swimsuit. 



We fell into the routine of visiting the pool for an hour or so and then catching up with the Tour de France, happening as we watched not very far away. 

One man must have got so excited he had a heart attack or something.  Everyone was panicking because he was unconscious and completely grey; I was certain he was dead.  Then he sort of woke up and his colour returned.  He was back the next day, beer in hand as usual...


9 comments:

Suburban Princess said...

Hellooo! I'm catching up with all of my bloggy friends! I hope you had a good summer - this looks like an interesting trip!

Dumbwit Tellher said...

Greetings Shelley ~ so happy to receive your great message and be able to take the time to read what you've been up to. My husband would be so jealous of your Bordeaux trip. He's a huge cyclist and he and I watched Le' Tour every darn day! What a classy camp sight, I too would have been quite happy there. Heck I'd be happy almost anywhere in the sun for a few days! I hope all is very well for you all. Bill's new granddaughter is absolutely precious. All my best to you and cannot believe we're now both in the same country!!
Cheers x Deb

BigLittleWolf said...

Piecing fabric for a quilt? Sitting in the fresh air and reading? A swimming pool?

That would be heavenly. The rest?

Who needs it?

(Any chocolate with those Belgians? Belgian chocolate is the best.)

:-)

Beryl said...

What a great campground! Sounds like you really enjoyed yourself. Reading and sewing is my idea of a great vacation.

Shelley said...

SP - Yes, it was a great trip!

Deb - Welcome to Grey old GB. It does take some getting used to! Focus on the fact that you are so much closer to Europe (well, actually we're in Europe) and that a short haul flight (ie Easy Jet) will take you to some very interesting places. Learn to love boots and only buy real wool sweaters... BTW, do you 'know' Tabitha at Bourbon and Pearls? She lives in Edinburgh and blogs at that name. You might enjoy some of what she shares.

Shelley said...

BLW - Sadly, I never bothered to try to strike up a conversation with any of the neighbours. I couldn't be bothered. Yes, there was loads of Belgian chocolate in the shop but I'm not a chocolate person. Bill is, but he rarely indulges other than at Christmas.

Beryl - I can read and sew all I want here at home - and I do a significant amount of reading - but the internet tends to seduce me away from my sewing, which is a shame, really. Not having that distraction was a real blessing...

Carolyn said...

Sounds like a perfectly wonderful camping trip! What a relief that man did not die in front of everyone; would have been an awful tragedy...

Rick Stone said...

Uhh, you were camping in a TENT? Was there no place for a motor home, even a small one? Did the tent thing twice with ex-wife's family many years ago. Now roughing it means I can't get any TV reception in the motor home. ;->

Shelley said...

Rick - We had the motorhome, where we slept and cooked, but Bill put up the tent to sit out in and enjoy the outdoors with a little privacy. Even in my 30s I found sleeping on the ground much too difficult to handled. I might consider a cot bed in a tent...no. I've just considered and rejected the idea. I like having my own loo in the middle of the night...